Go-To-Guy Straddles Both Sides Of The Scene
Rick Overwater BeatRoute Magazine

Attention, all the rockabilly-types, alt-country f...

Attention, all the rockabilly-types, alt-country fans and bands that frequent our humble scene: There is a double agent in our midst. His name is Shane Chisholm. By now you may have stumbled across him at bars like the Palomino or Bar Named Sue (RIP), entranced by his standup bass playing, deep honkytonk crooning and timeless self-penned songs.

But you need to know that when Chisholm leaves the stage, he quietly returns to his day job, and not the unmusical hair-net, hard-hat or cotton dress pant-wearing stuff most local musicians endure. When he’s not being a very welcome rising figure in the independent honky-tonk-rockabilly world, he’s been paying the bills onstage in the commercial country realm.

And he’s good at it. To the point that he has been the go-to guy for the likes of George Canyon, Julian Austin, Duane Steele and Beverly Mahood to name a few. In the middle of this he’s racked up some accolades as well, being nominated for Canadian Country Music Association Bass player of the year in 2003, 2004, and 2007.

But don’t all you new country-haters pull your knives out just yet. The boy deserves some slack – not everything in commercial country is evil and, regardless, a guy’s gotta make a living.

“My hearts not totally in it,” says Chisholm. “But in front of a crowd of people who love that music, the feeling is still the same. It’s the greatest job in the world but my heart’s more on the roots side of things so I’ve been slowly trying to prepare my own music in recent years.”

Chisholm has early mixes of his forthcoming CD posted on MySpace (myspace.com/shanechisholm) and to most ears, whether it’s the earthy swing of "Hitchhiking Buddha" or the haunting, pedal steel-propelled murder ballad "Takin’ Out the Trash", they sound already finished. But he says there’s more to be done yet, including at least one track with backing vocals from the famous Jordanaires (yes, the cats that played with Elvis).

All in all it’s adding up to what will undoubtedly be one of the best local releases this year.

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